Chelsea Connor is a Dominican herpetologist and birder. Her research concerns the interaction between native and introduced ''

Anolis ''Anolis'' is a genus of anoles (), iguanian lizards in the family Dactyloidae, native to the Americas. With more than 425 species, it represents the world's most species-rich amniote tetrapod genus, although many of these have been proposed to b ...

'' lizards in the

Commonwealth of Dominica Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of t ...

. While a student, she co-founded # BlackBirdersWeek. She is an advocate for Black people in the United States being out in nature, and feeling safer when they do so.

Personal life

Connor grew up as a Black, queer woman in the

, part of the southeast

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

island group the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea, forming part of the West Indies in Caribbean, Caribbean region of the Americas. They are distinguished from the larger islands of the Greater Antilles to the west. They form an arc w ...

. She developed a love of birds from watching flocks of sugarbirds ('' Coereba flaveola)'' and seeing Sisserou parrots ('' Amazona imperialis'') for the first time.

Research

Connor studies the dietary overlap between invasive and native anoles (''Anolis'' spp.) in Dominica. Her undergraduate project at

Midwestern State University Midwestern State University (MSU Texas) is a public liberal arts university in Wichita Falls, Texas. As of Fall 2024, MSU Texas enrolled 5,324 students. It is the state's only public institution focused on the liberal arts. History Founded in ...

, Texas in the lab of Charles M. Watson, examined the diets of '' Anolis oculatus'' and invasive ''

Anolis cristatellus ''Anolis cristatellus'' is a small species of Anolis, anole, belonging to the Dactyloidae Family (biology), family of reptiles. The species is native to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, U.S. and British Virgin Islands, with Introduced sp ...

''; she found few prey species in common, indicating possible

niche partitioning In ecology, a niche is the match of a species to a specific environmental condition. Three variants of ecological niche are described by It describes how an organism or population responds to the distribution of resources and competitors (for e ...

to avoid competition. She continued working on anoles as a graduate student at

Midwestern University Midwestern University (MWU) is a Private university, private Postgraduate education, graduate school with campuses in Downers Grove, Illinois and Glendale, Arizona. As of the 2022–23 academic year, a total of 2,758 students were enrolled a ...

in Texas.

#BlackBirdersWeek

In May 2020, birder

Christian Cooper Christian Cooper (born 1963) is an American science writer and editor, and also a comics writer and editor. He is based in New York City. In 2023, Random House published Cooper's memoir, ''Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man i ...

was harassed in Central Park while watching birds—a white woman called the police on him. Connor empathised; she had also experienced suspicion while birding, with people believing because a Black person outside with binoculars must be doing something wrong. In response to Central Park birdwatching incident, Connor along with several other Black scientists founded

Black Birders Week Black Birders Week is a week-long series of online events to highlight black naturalists, nature enthusiasts and to increase the visibility of black birders, who face unique challenges and dangers when they are engaged in outdoor activities. The e ...

; others include Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman, Jason Ward, Sheridan Alford, Danielle Belleny, Joseph Saunders, and Tykee James. The

National Audubon Society The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such orga ...

supported the program, which first ran May 31 to June 5, 2020. Each day the social media campaign #BlackBirdersWeek had a different theme: #BlackWomenWhoBird, posting a picture of yourself in nature, #PostABird, and Question and Answer with Black birders. Connor celebrates bird watching in Black communities for a week each year. She advocates for Black people and their rights. She encourages people from diverse backgrounds to observe and enjoy nature, especially groups that historically marginalised in predominantly white activities like birding: “It is upsetting to see that it is still so unsafe for a lot of Black people to go outside, and to do what they love doing outside.”

References

External links

Website

Artwork
{{DEFAULTSORT:Connor, Chelsea Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Herpetologists Midwestern University Dominica women scientists 21st-century women scientists Dominica scientists Dominica LGBTQ people 21st-century Dominica women 21st-century Dominica people